Volcanoes

Lesson Ideas/Books to Read
These have discussions and activities listed in "Investigating Natural Disasters through Children's Literature" by Anthony D. Fredericks)

Dear Katie, The Volcano is a Girl Jean Craighead George		Science and myth square off in a confrontation on the slopes of Hawaii's Kilauea: as her grandmother delivers a lecture on lava, tidal waves, plate tectonics, and other "geophysical phenomena," young Katie counters by insisting that it's all the work of Pele, the goddess of fire, feuding with her aquatic sister Na Maka o Kaha'i. Powers alternates swirling, fiery glimpses of Pele, to whom he gives Katie's light skin and blue eyes, with quieter scenes of verdant kipukas (patches of vegetation between lava flows) and past violence, including a school bus half submerged in rock (next to the reassuring information that lava moves at only three feet an hour), schematic island-building sequences, and the bare plain around a recent small eruption within Kilauea's crater. Ultimately, the grandmother capitulates, recognizing that her story and Katie's are essentially the same. This rare comparison of world views not only contains a fair amount of scientific and cultural information but also could spark a search for similar parallels in nature. John Peters
Surtsey: The Newest Place on Earth Kathryn Lasky (NOTE: Amazon has both kindle and paper copies)		Early on a November morning in 1963, off the coast of Iceland, a volcanic eruption was taking place deep under the ocean. On the surface, the crew of a nearby fishing boat were noticing some strange things: a sulfurous aroma in the air and the ocean swirling around the boat. Then, just before dawn, the volcanic eruption that had been increasing in intensity under the sea broke the surface and spewed lava miles in the air, just four miles from their fishing boat. By the next morning, something even more incredible had occurred. The cinder cone of the volcano had broken the surface of the water; a new island had been born. It was the newest place on Earth. The story of the birth of this island is powerfully told by Newbery Honor-winning author Kathryn Lasky. Christopher G. Knight’s dramatic photographs take the reader to the newest place on Earth – Surtsey island.
The Village of Round and Square Houses Ann Grifalconi		Tos is an actual village, on the side of an inactive volcano in Central Africa. It is the village in the book's title, where women dwell in round thatch-roofed huts and men live in square ones. This book tells the story of how the houses were so designated, in the aftermath of the volcano releasing its full fury on the village. Grifalconi effortlessly embroiders the customs of the village into her melodious narration. The author, who has illustrated over 50 children's books, including Lucille Clifton's Everett Anderson books, here illustrates her own tale, told to her by a young girl who grew up in Tos. The resting purple volcano, suddenly erupting into orange; the eerie orange sun; the villagers covered with ash; the purple and orange skies; the dense, lush jungles all are captured beautifully by Grifalconi's art.
Volcano: The Eruption and Healing of Mount St Helens Patricia Lauber		Grade 4-8 After the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980, a number of fine books for young readers appeared which discussed at length this catastrophe, the devastation it created, and the geologic forces which caused it. Although providing less detail in these areas, Lauber brings the other titles up-to-date by describing the biological succession and geological changes which have since occurred at Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. This provides an excellent example of the interdependence of all plant and animal life. How the Earth itself creates new environments for living things which in turn reshape the Earth is demonstrated visually as well as verbally. The captioned high-quality color photographs are well-integrated with the text, superbly illustrating the written material.
Volcanoes Seymour Simon		Grade 3-7 Simon presents information on volcanoes to young readers in an understandable text and colorful format. While Lauber's Volcano (Bradbury, 1986) primarily describes the life cycle of Mount St. Helens, this book provides a general overview of the types of volcanoes found around the world. It does not replace, but complements, Lauber's work. Further, it can be used successfully to generate interest on the part of those readers reluctant to pick up nonfiction books, as Simon gives readers an armchair tour of some of the more impressive volcanoes around the world: Mount St. Helens, the undersea volcanoes in Iceland, and Mauna Loa in Hawaii. The book is graced with many illuminating color photos that bring the text to life. However, the illustration of the plates, or crust layers of the earth, is somewhat difficult to understand. Better diagrams can be found in the adult source, Cottrell's Born of Fire: the Volcanic Origins of Yellowstone National Park (Rinehart, 1987).